Head Start cuts administrative staff

Director says savings to help pay for rising fuel costs.

Director says savings to help pay for rising fuel costs.

June 11, 2007|Tribune Staff Report

SOUTH BEND Â? A total of 11Â½ administrative positions were eliminated last week from the Head Start Consortium of Elkhart and St. Joseph Counties Â? part of a reorganization that Director Kathy Guajardo says is needed to pay for rising fuel costs.

But those who lost their jobs are allowed to apply for three new positions that will open on June 20, she said.

Â?We had too much waste here,Â? said Guajardo, who oversees the consortium of 12 public school districts that runs federal Head Start preschools for up to 1,020 children.

Services wonÂ?t be cut, she said. And the cuts didnÂ?t include any front-line staff such as teachers, assistant teachers, paraprofessionals and family service workers, she said.

Front-line workers make up roughly 75 percent of the staff, which had about 115 to 120 people before the cuts, Guajardo said.

Duties will be combined. Consultants and temp-service clerks will fill gaps, she said.

The consortium board, which consists of the districtsÂ? superintendents, will deal with the budget issue that is behind the cuts at its next public meeting at 9:30 a.m. June 19 at the Lafayette Early Childhood Center, 245 N. Lombardy Drive.

Guajardo said the schools had been busing the Head Start kids at no extra cost, a value of $500,000 to $1 million. Superintendents asked for financial help after this yearÂ?s fuel price spike, she said.

The reorganization will save money to do that, she said.

It comes as the consortium writes its application, due Aug. 1, to renew the three-year federal grant that sustains the program, she said.

Guajardo said that, before putting the reorganization into effect, there had been discussions about it with the board, the Policy Council (an oversight board of parents and community members) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.